Whilst Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market remained flat over the course of the weekend, Verge (XVG) and Ethos (ETHOS) were two virtual currencies that bucked the trend; each seeing their respective tokens realise strong price increases.

Starting with Verge, and whilst their crowd funding campaign prompted all sorts of reactions and conjecture when it was revealed on Thursday (PDT), it was evident what the market thought of it. Indeed, teasing the potential of landing the “largest partnership in crypto to date” was enough to see XVG soar by as much as 52 percent since the call to arms was initiated (as per price data).

Verge’s token price has since retracted, however, XVG has still enjoyed ~33.3 percent gains since the pledge drive begun. This contrasts to Bitcoin (BTC), and even the cryptocurrency market at large, with both having slightly declined in value by less than 1 percent each.

The anonymity-centric Verge – often looked to as one of the more emphatic marketers in the crypto space – implemented a number of strategies over the weekend in an effort to give their crowd funding campaign every chance of success.

By far and wide, the biggest lure has been the promise to reveal the name of the company that Verge has said they are in talks with. Unfortunately for Verge fanatics, it is looking increasingly unlikely that they’ll learn of this company’s identity, which Verge teased is a “global organization with a vast network of high traffic sites.”

This is because the name will only be revealed should the donation address total 75,000,000 XVG by Monday. Given the donated XVG received thus far (at the time of writing) is 17.8 million, or, not yet a quarter of the required total, it would seem as though the name of the company will remain unknown (that is, of course, unless a partnership is agreed upon sometime in the future).

In an attempt to elicit a much-needed spate of donor activity, Verge published this video on Saturday which introduced a contest element to the campaign; offering donors the chance of certain rewards, depending upon the amount of XVG they contribute.

Another well-known cryptocurrency that was able to break free of the widespread price stagnation by making use of savvy marketing was Ethos (ETHOS), the ecosystem that provides the tools to manage wallets and keys for safe, verified blockchain transactions.

In an effort to build anticipation around their imminent release of the Ethos Universal Wallet product, the team began revealing which cryptocurrencies had agreed to airdrop tokens to those who pre-register for Ethos Universal Wallet.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Weekly Forecast: Slow And Steady Increase Likely

There was a downside correction from the $10,954 swing high in bitcoin price against the US Dollar.

The price is holding the $10,000 support and it could bounce back in the near term.

There is a major bullish trend line forming with support near $10,140 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).

The price could dip in the short term before it starts a fresh increase above $10,500 in the near term.

Bitcoin price is showing positive signs above $10,000 against the US Dollar. BTC could rise steadily as long as there is no close below the $10,000 support area.

Bitcoin Price Weekly Analysis (BTC)

In the last weekly forecast, we saw bitcoin price holding the key $10,000 support area against the US Dollar. The BTC/USD pair climbed higher and traded above the $10,000 resistance area. Moreover, there was a break above the $10,800 level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours). However, the price failed to continue higher and topped below the $11,000 resistance.

A swing high was formed near $10,954 and recently the price started a fresh decline. It broke the key $10,500 support area and the 100 SMA. Moreover, the price spiked below the $10,000 support area. Finally, a swing low was formed near $9,903 and the price is currently correcting higher. It broke the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $10,954 high to $9,903 low.

However, the upward move is facing hurdles near the $10,400 and $10,500 levels. Additionally, the price is also struggling to climb above the 50% Fib retracement level of the last decline from the $10,954 high to $9,903 low. If there is a break above the $10,450 and $10,500 levels, the price could continue to rise. The next key resistance is near the $10,800 level.

On the downside, there are many supports near the $10,100 and $10,000 levels. Additionally, there is a major bullish trend line forming with support near $10,140 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair. If there is a downside break below the trend line and the $10,000 support, the price could resume its decline.

Looking at the chart, bitcoin price seems to be consolidating in a contracting range below the $10,500 resistance. It might soon break the $10,500 resistance and continue higher. Conversely, a downside break below $10,000 could start a strong decline in the coming sessions.

Technical indicators

4 hours MACD – The MACD for BTC/USD is slowly moving back into the bullish zone.

Bitcoin (BTC) price was consolidating $10,000 support on Aug. 23 after successfully shunning four figures during the day’s trading.

Market visualization. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin delivers firm bounce off $10K

Data from Coin360 show a newly strengthened Bitcoin managing to stay above the $10,000 marker, which it had crossed four times over the course of the week.

Currently in the upper end of a $300 trading corridor, BTC/USD circled $10,200 at press time, as analysts considered the opportunities ahead for fresh gains and less bearish volatility.

Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360

“The trend toward stability, an essential ingredient in a median of exchange, is accelerating Bitcoin’s advancement as a digital form of gold,” Bloomberg quoted its own Intelligence analyst, Mike McGlone, as saying on Thursday.

Sentiment had waned earlier after Bitcoin appeared to be heading broadly lower. Analysts voiced concern about support, arguing a further loss could trigger dives to as low as $7,000.

“In the short term, I’m a little bit cautious,” CNBC’s active Bitcoin bug Brian Kelly told the network on Friday. He added that at future lower levels, the buying opportunity for BTC accumulators was unparalleled.

Altcoins rally but Ether worries loom large

A Bitcoin breakdown was also still on cards for regular commentator Josh Rager, but for the short term, it was top altcoin Ether (ETH) which presented more worries.

Heading a troubled altcoin market, ETH had circled multi-year lows against BTC before rising above 0.019 on Thursday. For Rager, however, the general trend is down, and he advised not to buy under current conditions.

“If BTC breaks down to $8ks, ETH will follow with a break under $150,” he summarized in a fresh update.

There is a disproportionate percentage of $ZEC and $XRP pouring into the market. No wonder these tokens are the worst performers of 2019, down 25% and 30% in dollar terms, respectively, in a year $BTC is up 2.7x. pic.twitter.com/NsNqykkVvK

Bitcoin is up more than 170% since the start of the year while ZEC and XRP have moved over 25% in the opposite direction.

Together, XRP and ZEC are among some of the worst-performing cryptos of 2019. Altcoins, in general, have endured a miserable 2019, continuing the pains for bag holders from 2018’s bear market.

Meanwhile, commentators are calling a new all-time high (ATH) for bitcoin before the end of 2019. The emerging consensus is that the price action for the top-ranked crypto has entered another zone of parabolic advance.

Thus, a move for BTC towards its previous ATH would mean a further leg-up that could go as high as $30,000 in 2021.